Russia’s Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery stands engulfed by flames for the third consecutive day after Ukrainian drones hit the facility earlier this week.
Novoshakhtinsk is Rostov Oblast’s only refinery and ranks among southern Russia’s largest, reported Euromaidan press, with locals uploading several videos of the facility being continuously ablaze on social media.
“A fire broke out at one of the industrial enterprises in Novoshakhtinsk. Preliminarily, no one was hurt. Emergency services are working at the scene,” Reuters quoted the acting governor of the Rostov region Yury Slyusar as saying.
On August 23, Rostov’s region minister of housing and communal services, Antonina Pshenychnaya on his Telegram announced disruption in water supply in Krasny Sulin, near Novoshakhtinsk. “Water will resume once reservoirs are refilled and the water pipeline is tested,” he wrote.
Selling fuel mainly for export, the facility has an annual capacity of 5 million metric tons of oil, or around 100,000 barrels per day, the report added.
Ukraine targets oil facilities in Russia
Since the start of August 2025, Ukraine launched multiple attacks on several Russian oil refineries including Novokuibyshevsk, Syzran, Ryazan and Volgograd.
The armed forces of Ukraine claimed responsibility for the attacks on its official Telegram handle.
Ukraine’s drones hit oil refineries including Russia’s Saratov region in an overnight drone attack on August 10, Unecha pumping station on August 13, a refinery in the Volgograd region on August 14, and the Syzran oil refinery in Samara on August 15.
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Refineries of Novokuibyshevsk, Ryazan, and Krasnodar were also reportedly struck by Ukraine, with two oil tanks catching fire at an oil depot in Sochi in southern Russia.
In statements on its official Telegram handle, Kyiv’s military reported fire and explosions at the refineries.
The facilities were also subjected to similar attacks earlier this year, reported Reuters.
Russia-Ukraine crisis continues
The conflict between the two neighbours, which began three years ago, has intensified from both sides in recent days after Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky met US President Donald Trump last week in a bid to end the war, HT reported earlier.
Moscow on August 23, launched its KAB aerial bombs and drones that hit Dnipropetrovsk Oblast’s Synelnykove district. The strike damaged seven houses, a bus, killing one and injuring at least nine others, according to a report by Kyiv Independent.
The attack also reportedly affected a gas pipeline and a power line in the region.
